Miami Finally Found the Formula It Was Supposed to Have All Along

Akron drove 97 yards for a touchdown on its opening possession, and for a few minutes it looked like Miami might find another creative way to make an inferior opponent uncomfortable.

Then the version of this team we expected all offseason finally arrived.

Miami ran for 324 yards at 9.3 yards per carry, intercepted four passes and turned three of those takeaways into 21 points. The RedHawks improved to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the MAC with a 34-14 win that was comfortable for most of the afternoon.

It was only Akron. It was also the clearest evidence yet that Miami might have found a sustainable way to win without David McComb.

The Safety Net Finally Held

The running game was supposed to protect Miami after McComb's season ended. Instead, it entered Saturday averaging 111 rushing yards per game and repeatedly left Caleb Heavner responsible for keeping the offense moving.

Against Akron, Miami finally flipped that burden.

Rodney Nelson ran 13 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns, including a 58-yard fourth-quarter score that ended any remaining doubt. He averaged 10.9 yards per carry and produced his first two touchdowns as a RedHawk.

"We tried to emphasize this week running the ball, putting force on blocks, and opening run lanes," Nelson said.

He was not alone. Scoop Smith took a jet sweep 69 yards on his only carry. Heavner added 45 net rushing yards, D'Shawntae Jones gained 48 and Lazaro Rogers added 20 as Miami finished with 324 yards on only 35 attempts.

Chuck Martin called it the best the running game has looked this season. For once, that did not require any generous interpretation.

Four Picks Changed the Entire Game

Miami entered Saturday with one interception through six games. It left with five.

Ben Minich started the eruption by intercepting a deflected pass and returning it 18 yards, giving Miami a short field for Nelson's first touchdown. Amariyun Knighten later made an acrobatic fourth-down interception immediately after Akron recovered an onside kick. Kaleb Martin added the final pick, along with two pass breakups, although his unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty after the return belongs in the honest accounting.

The largest swing belonged to Blayne Myrick.

Akron trailed 20-7 and was still close enough to create another uncomfortable finish when Myrick read Brayden Roggow, intercepted him and returned the ball 36 yards for Miami's first defensive touchdown of the season.

"We knew we were better than them," Myrick said. Miami finally played like it.

Myrick deserves recognition beyond one highlight. He had already been one of Miami's steadier defenders before the pick-six put him in the box score's brightest column. The touchdown earned three Bricks, but it also made it easier to appreciate the work that came before it.

Grant Lyons supplied the pressure behind the coverage. He finished with six tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss, increasing his season total to four sacks and taking over the team lead.

The Passing Game Is Still the Warning

The final score should not erase everything that remains unresolved.

Heavner completed 8 of 16 passes for 65 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Miami converted only 2 of 9 third downs and produced just two passing first downs.

Damarion Witten's 27-yard touchdown was a needed example of Heavner delivering when Miami created favorable field position, but the RedHawks still cannot assume that 324 rushing yards and four interceptions will appear every Saturday.

That is what keeps this from being a five-Brick performance. Miami discovered a winning formula against Akron, not proof that every offensive problem disappeared.

Still, the exact sources of hope identified before the game finally delivered together: the running game became a safety net, the defense attacked the football and several young players made meaningful plays. The win was also Martin's 150th as a college head coach, a milestone worth acknowledging on an afternoon when his team finally looked complete.

The season's hype no longer has to depend on pretending the first three losses did not happen. It can come from watching Miami build something better from them.